I Will Follow You
by Hazelle.X
Summary: FemTsuna! Reborn comes to town to train the future boss of the Vongola family. There were two candidates: Sawada Tsunayoshi and Sawada Shigeru. Everyone knew that the younger twin was more capable. Clearly, Shigeru was the right candidate. Right?
1. Chapter 1

_No matter where we went, Shigeru shone like a beacon, and I was hidden in his shadow, overlooked by everyone else. It used to hurt, but I've gotten used to it. I know what people think of me. Just because I'm a girl, they don't say it to my face, but I know what they really think of me anyway. I can see it in their eyes when they look at me. They call me "dame-Tsuna", because in comparison to my brilliant brother, I wasn't anything. And I knew that._

Chapter 1.

"Tsu-chan, you came home in the middle of class again," Mom chided. "That's not nice."

Tsuna hummed nonchalantly.

"I'm not saying you have to get into a top college or anything, but you should live a life with more fulfilment! Be more like your brother."

Tsuna rolled her eyes. Now that Shigeru was more involved in club activates, she had almost all of her mother's attention, which was something that needed getting used to.

"…but Shi-kun's grades haven't been looking very good lately…"

But then again, Mom was always talking about Shigeru (his excellence in soccer, his popularity, his clothes need washing, the mud he tracked into the living room when he comes home from practice), which was normal. It was something that she could tune out. Her mother was the happiest when she was talking about Shigeru, and all Tsuna had to do was listen, or just pretend to. It was better that she was talking about Shigeru than missing Dad.

"…there was this interesting flyer in the mailbox…"

_Speaking of Dad, he hasn't contacted us since a year ago, work must be pretty busy..._with amusement Tsuna realised she did not even know how much her dad earned, she could have been rich all this while and not know it. After all, Nana, being a brilliant housewife, probably managed their finances very well to boot. The house was never lacking anything; stationary, air refresher, shampoo, socks, and even had an extra rice cooker (when Tsuna accidentally caused the old one to short-circuit somehow, and Nana just produced another one from the attic.)

"…a home tutor's coming today!"

Tsuna looked up. That took her by surprise.

"The flyer promised to 'raise your kid to become the new leader of the next generation'! Doesn't it sound great!"

_It sounds like a scam_¸ Tsuna glanced sceptically at the flyer in Mom's hands. Her mother could be so gullible sometimes.

"I'm home!"

"Oh, Shi-chan's early!" Mom all but skipped down the stairs.

Tsuna wanted to continue to read her book, but she felt like snacking on some bananas. Using the flyer that Mom left, she bookmarked where she stopped, and headed downstairs too. She was greeted by a strange sight.

There was a little kid in their house. No, he wasn't just a kid, he was a baby, and he even had a pacifier around his neck. No matter what, the kid was definitely a baby, he had the dewy skin of babies, and their huge round eyes. But why didn't he feel like a baby? He was standing so confidently, holding a mini suitcase, dressed in a black suit and even wearing a fedora hat, as though he were an adult. _Something's off about this baby._

_Eep!_ _He noticed me!_ Tsuna immediately stared at the floor and slowly inched towards the kitchen. _Bananas, I just have to get them and get out._ She could still feel the baby's gaze on her. Then he was speaking to Mom and Shigeru, he had a cute voice of a toddler, but he wasn't just blubbering nonsense, he was holding an intelligent conversation.

"I arrived 3 hours early, but as a service, I'll evaluate you now," the baby was saying. "My name's Reborn, the home tutor."

Shigeru burst out laughing, "What is this kid saying!"

"So you're Shigeru," the baby says as Tsuna turned around to grab a banana from the counter. She heard a yell, and when she turned around, Shigeru was rolling on the floor grabbing his knee. Mom just stood there looking stunned, and they could only watch as Reborn began to drag her brother up the stairs.

"That hurt dammit! I won't forgive you just because you're a baby!" She heard Shigeru yell. A loud thud followed. Mom's eyes grew as wide as saucers, but other than that, she seemed to have frozen. Tsuna heard another thud from upstairs and winced. _What was going on?_

"My real job is to make you a mafia boss."

Tsuna's hand paused just an inch from the door of her brother's room. What was she thinking? Curiosity got the better of her. She shouldn't poke her nose into other people's business. This Reborn obviously had no business with her. Like everyone else, he wanted her brother. And like always, she should fade into the background, where she belonged. Her brother would be fine, he always was. Besides, this could be some practical joke, after all, how could a baby possibly be a tutor? _He'll be gone by tomorrow, and it'll be like nothing ever happened. Maybe Mom will learn a lesson and stop trusting such weird flyers._

* * *

"Good Morning Tsu-chan!"

Tsuna yawned in response, she hardly slept last night, dreaming dream after dream about strange babies, about men dressed in black with guns, and about fedora hats with legs and tails. Yes, she was weird like that.

"Ciaossu!"

Tsuna froze. The baby was still here, and he was staring at her. She nodded nervously to the baby, quickly wolfed down her toast, and dashed out.

Normally, Tsuna liked babies. They were cute, they were innocent and they didn't judge her. Well, most of them don't anyway. Tsuna was only afraid of babies when they start crying, but most people are. That baby at home though, is on a completely different scale.

_When is he going to go home? Won't his mom worry? _ She thought, as she walked along the familiar path to school.

Tsuna loved the walk to school, it gave her time to collect her thoughts. It was the only time when she was completely alone. At home, Mom would always be around, and now that the baby was there, she definitely would not feel at ease. And in school, she got so self-conscious, it was suffocating. If only she could be more confident of herself. If only she could be like Sasagawa Kyoko, the prettiest girl in her class.

Sasagawa Kyoko was practically the perfect girl. She was pretty, smart, athletic and everyone liked her. Even her brother liked Sasagawa Kyoko, and he was the kind of guy that used to have only two loves in his life – food and soccer. He was the kind of guy that would wake up at 4.30am in the morning for soccer practice (like he probably did today), and stay up to 3am or some other insane hour, to catch the world cup. Before Sasagawa Kyoko, Shigeru never expressed any interest in women.

It's only a matter of time before they get together, Tsuna supposed. They were all in the same class after all. And, they would look like an adorable couple. Off course, some people think Sasagawa Kyoko would look cute with Yamamoto-kun too, or maybe even cuter. In her opinion, Yamamoto-kun is definitely cuter than Shigeru.

"Ciaossu!"

Tsuna yelped in surprise, the baby was behind her. The baby had followed her! Tsuna stared at the baby,_ Doesn't he have school?_

"Since you're Shigeru's twin, I decided to explain a few things to you," the baby said, "there are some things you should know."

Frankly speaking, even though she heard him speak yesterday, Tsuna still could not get used to the fact that a _baby_ was talking to her with such perfect grammar and with such a commanding tone. If his voice were not so high-pitched, she would have mistaken him for an adult!

"I'm here to trai- "

WAIT, was that Sasagawa Kyoko? With Shigeru? Tsuna scrambled back a few steps and hurriedly hid behind a tree. Discreetly, she peered around the tree, sure enough, it was her brother, walking Sasagawa Kyoko to school. They did look pretty sweet together, there's going to be such a fuss in school later. Maybe she could skip school today amidst all the drama?

"Kyaaa~ How cute!" Tsuna's forehead smacked against the tree; she forgot about the baby.

"Ciaossu."

"Why are you wearing a suit?" That, was honestly a good question, it was summer, isn't it just torture for a baby to wear a suit in this heat?

"Because I'm in the mafia." Tsuna banged her head against the tree again, _say what!_

"How cool! Haha, well, we have to go to school now, bye-bye!"

Tsuna waited until they turned around the next corner, before she came out of her hiding spot. Crap, she was going to be late for school, maybe she should just skip. After all, no one would probably notice her absence. With that decided, she turned around and started to walk towards the library.

"Isn't school that way?"

Her feet jolted to a stop. Seriously, she should stop forgetting about the baby. She turned around and looked at him. He just looked back at her. His eyes were unblinking, and so serious, too serious for a little baby. Tsuna sighed, she didn't want to fight, not even with a baby. So she turned around and shuffled towards the direction of Namimori Junior High.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for following, favouriting and reviewing. This is my first fanfic, and I know I have a lot to learn. Thank you for your support. (:

* * *

Reborn had been watching his charge, Sawada Shigeru, from his secret hiding spot. Shigeru was everything Iemitsu said he was – athletic, popular and confident. On the other hand, Sawada Tsunayoshi… what a spineless kid. How could a pair of twins be so different?

Reborn bristled as he recalled that morning's incident. While he was talking to the girl (Kyoko was it?) Shigeru had completely ignored him, _he didn't even acknowledge me, that brat. _Even last night, Shigeru had merely brushed him off, and then went straight to bed. Even threats and kicks didn't work, and the kid slept like a dead person, nothing Reborn did would wake him. Off course, Reborn hadn't tried to shoot him...yet.

Reborn turned his eyes to the scene in front of him. It was p.e lesson, and sure enough, Shigeru's capabilities were evident. Every other player on his team looked to him for direction, and his team was leading way ahead of the opposing team. It didn't help that the sport they were learning was soccer, apparently his most skilled sport.

On the other end of the field, Tsunayoshi was falling face first into the grass. The girls were learning Frisbee, and the twin was missing every single shot that came her way.

Obviously Shigeru would be the right person to be Vongola's tenth boss. He had the physique and the charisma, but his attitude needed fixing. He had to take Reborn seriously, otherwise he might die, or more importantly, he would lead the Vongola down the wrong path.

* * *

_I hate p.e. _Tsuna shook flecks of grass out of her hair. Her bushy brown hair was getting long again, she needed a haircut. Soon. She didn't know why Shigeru didn't face this problem, but whenever _her _hair got too long, it lost its ability to defy gravity and would start to flop down. Even if she didn't care for looks all that much, she didn't want to look like a bushy palm tree or something.

Maybe she should just go home already, she wouldn't even be in school if not for the Baby_. Which reminds me, didn't he want to tell me something?_

"Oi Sawada! Shouldn't you be in the sports hall?"

She started, were those _seniors _talking to her? Why were they running towards her? Crap, did she do anything to offend them recently? Tsuna took a few apprehensive steps back.

"You idiot, that's not Sawada! That's his twin or something!"

"He has a twin?!"

And with a woosh, they ran past her.

Tsuna exhaled a huge sigh of relief. They weren't looking for her. They were looking for Shigeru. _Isn't it break now? What's Shigeru doing in the sports hall?_

Curious, Tsuna turned around and walked to the sports hall.

* * *

"You little twerp! Be prepared!"

Reborn looked at the little scene before him. It was school drama at its best. He wondered if Namimori students had nothing better to do. At least, Shigeru seemed to be holding his own in this fight. It was supposed to be a kendo fight, but Shigeru, knowing nothing about Kendo, was just flinging the wooden sword like a baseball bat. The result was a fairly one-sided match, with Mochida with the upper hand.

At this rate, Shigeru would lose. Even with all his athletic capabilities, he could not win against a trained person. But would Shigeru realize this? Or will he have to use the Dying will bullet?

Reborn looked at his familiar, Leon didn't seem keen to change into a gun just yet. In fact, Leon didn't even seem interested in the battle, the chameleon was just reclining under a spot of sunlight.

* * *

"The prize would be Sasagawa Kyoko!" Tsuna heard, as she approached the sports hall. So that was the reason for this ridiculous scene. Some senpai was fighting her brother for Sasagawa Kyoko, maybe it was a good thing she didn't skip school after all, this she wouldn't want to miss.

But did the hot-blooded creatures have to choose a real duel? Fighting is never a good thing, someone could get hurt. She hoped Shigeru would be fine._ It's not as though Shigeru knew even a speck of Kendo_, Tsuna worried.

The duel didn't look like it was going well, her brother was just defending as much as he could from Mochida-senpai's fury of strikes. _At this rate, Shigeru's going to lose! And he'll lose Sasagawa Kyoko, _Tsuna bit her lip and started to wring her wrists. But what could _she _do? She was dame-Tsuna, the useless-Tsuna who couldn't do anything right. Could she even help Shigeru?

Wham! Tiny stars were dancing in front of her. Tsuna held her head, what had hit her? She tried to blink away the darkness. A soccer ball? Where did that come from? She must have been hit hard, for a moment she thought the ball had eyes in it, staring at her. She shook her head, _nah, what am I saying? This is why I don't like balls, they hurt!_

But Shigeru was amazing with a soccer ball, that's why he was the captain even though they were still freshmen. _Maybe that's it! _Tsuna gingerly picked up the soccer ball. Luckily she was standing outside the sports hall. Wanting to avoid the crowd, she had decided to watch from the window instead. It was the perfect spot. No one would see her.

* * *

_Leon?_ What is he doing?

* * *

"Mom you should have seen it! I was awesome!"

"I totally kicked his ass!"

"Oi Tsuna! Didja see me? Didja see me?"

Tsuna couldn't help but return her twin's million-watt smile and nodded. Shigeru did a mini dance in his seat and Mom just laughed at his antics.

"Mom! One day I'll introduce Kyoko-chan to you! She's gonna be my girlfriend!"

"Ara, I look forward to that! Isn't our Shi-kun such a brilliant boy, Tsu-chan?" Tsuna just smiled and nodded. She did this. Even though she was dame-Tsuna, she protected her little happy family. It sure felt good to be useful, even for a brief moment, and even if nobody knew what she did.

"To celebrate, let's have some gelato ice-cream! Good thing I bought some last week. Reborn-chan, what flavour do you want?"

"Vanilla please, Maman."

"Geh-!" Shigeru spit out the remaining rice in his mouth. "Kiddo, why are you still here?"

"Brat, you only won because of the football, you could have lost." Tsuna tensed up.

"So what? If a ball falls right in front of me, I kick it! It just shows how even the heavens wanted me to kick Mochida's ass! Why else would a football end up in the sports hall? Footballs are only allowed in the field. Right, Tsuna?" Shigeru slammed his palm on the table.

Tsuna gave him a weak smile and nodded.

"Shi-kun, don't slam the table please." Mom called from the kitchen where she was serving the ice-cream.

Shigeru yelled an apology, but Tsuna wasn't listening. She didn't notice as her twin got up from the dining table and headed to the kitchen. She didn't notice anything, except how the baby decked in a suit was looking at her, and she knew. She knew that Reborn had seen her.


	3. Chapter 3

_**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**_

_**Thank you all for your support! **_

_**I realised I forgot to put a disclaimer, so here it is: **_

_**Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Amano Akira.**_

* * *

It's been 2 weeks since Reborn came to Namimori. He had duties to fulfill, moreover it was a request from Nono himself and he couldn't refuse. But he didn't fly all the way to Japan from Italy to babysit Iemitsu's kid.

Shigeru was still a naïve brat. In the beginning, he wriggled out of every training session that he could, either to go on dates with Kyoko or to go for soccer practice. He couldn't care less about being part of the mafia, and still didn't. But after a few kicks, punches and blankly fired shots, Shigeru grudgingly started to obey him. Right now, he was in the process of reading the Everything About Maria guide.

But progress was still too darned slow.

Perhaps things would change starting today. Reborn smirked.

* * *

Tsuna was scared stiff. Of all people, the new kid had to pick on her. It was like he had been searching for her. The moment he entered the classroom, his gaze locked onto Tsuna, and now she was under the full brunt of his terrifying glare.

She fidgeted in her seat, and tried to duck his heated glare. But even as she stared at her wrists, and tried to pre-occupy herself by rubbing off invisible dirt, she could feel his eyes burning a hole through her bushy head.

_Why is this happening to me? _She wailed internally. "Eeep!" the silver-haired boy had kicked her desk! She could have died of a heart attack on the spot!

"Hey, leave Tsuna alone." The transfer student just switched his glare onto her twin, who sat directly behind her. Shigeru stared back, but he wasn't one to pick a fight so he held up his hands in defence and just grinned back.

"Gokudera-kun, your seat is the other way," the teacher called. This time, Gokudera glared at the teacher, who also looked like she was about to faint in fear, before stomping to his seat.

Tsuna's shoulders slumped in relief. Grabbing a post-it, she wrote a little thank-you note for her twin. What would she do without Shigeru, honestly.

She had experienced her fair share of bullies, but now most of them stopped, mainly because of Shigeru's popularity. But Gokudera Hayato didn't seem to care either way, signalling the end of her peaceful days in Namimori High. Tsuna sighed.

* * *

Things didn't go exactly as Reborn had hoped. Smoking-Bomb Hayato had challenged Shigeru during recess. That went according to plan. What had not gone according to plan, was Shigeru ignoring Gokudera and running off because he saw Sasagawa Kyoko.

When Gokudera challenged him a second time, after school, it was only because Reborn threatened Shigeru, that Shigeru agreed to fight, and subsequently won it. Then, he proceeded to turn down Gokudera's request to the join his family. Reborn wanted to slam Shigeru's head into the nearest wall. Instead, he restrained himself, and settled with twisting Shigeru's arm.

Finally, they got their first family member.

* * *

"Morning, Boss!"

Shigeru grunted in response. "Who let _you_ in here?"

"I did! Off course we'll welcome Shi-kun's friends." Mom replied with a wide smile.

"We're not _friends." _

Tsuna almost missed it, but she was quite sure she saw a look of hurt flash across Gokudera-kun's eyes. It lasted for just a second before his eyes hardened and he continued to eat his breakfast as though nothing had happened.

Over the next few mornings, Gokudera Hayato continued to appear for breakfast. He even attempted to accompany Shigeru to school, but Shigeru would not allow it.

"Alright, I'm heading out! _Don't _follow me, you gangster!"

In the end, Tsuna would be left awkwardly at the table with Gokudera, afraid to even meet his stormy eyes. Silence would reign over the dining room. Most of the time, Gokudera would leave on his own, and then after a while, Tsuna would head to school too. Even though she risked being late, she would rather walk to school comfortably on her own than in fear, if she were to walk to school with Gokudera-kun.

However, today Gokudera stayed at the dining table longer than he usually did. Tsuna winced as she remembered what happened...

"Erm..."

Silence.

"G-Gokudera-kun.."

His brows were furrowed. What was he thinking about?

"Gokudera-kun?"

Still no reaction.

Mustering up all her courage, Tsuna took a big breath. She reached over slowly, and lightly, ever so lightly, tapped the silver-haired boy's shoulder.

"Eep!"

He was glaring at her.

"We should be going soon, we're going to be late." She squeaked.

Gokudera slammed his palm on the table and shouted, "I don't give a damn about school!"

Tsuna cringed, and returned back to the present. She looked at her textbook in dismay. Her hand had jerked when she recalled how fierce Gokudera-kun had been. The result was an ugly smudge on her textbook. Tsuna sighed.

In the end, she had scrambled out of her house. Gokudera-kun didn't turn up for school. And she still ended up late for school.

Tsuna sighed again.

_At least today's Thursday._ Upon remembering that, Tsuna smiled a little smile to herself. She couldn't wait for school to end.

* * *

Watching him play baseball was the highlight of her days in school. Practices were every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and one more on Saturday mornings, not counting the other unofficial games they play during their free time.

Sure, she could see him almost every other day. (She thanked her lucky stars that they were in the same class.) Sometimes he even came over to their house, because he was buddies with her twin. (Yepp, totally thanking her lucky stars!)

There was just something different about watching him play baseball, that made her heart glow with a tinge of warmth. Maybe it was the way his eyes steeled, just a bit, showing his focus in the game. Or maybe it was his wide smile when he shot a home run. Tsuna could not put a finger to it, but whatever it was, it made her heart flutter.

And she was not the only one. Definitely, there were many other girls who liked him and he had a fan club for goodness sake. That's why she would never stand a chance, even if she were Shigeru's twin. But it's alright, Tsuna didn't dare hope for too much, she was content to just look at Yamamoto-kun from afar.


	4. Chapter 4

"Tsu-chan, could you go out to buy some eggs? We just ran out! I must have forgotten to buy them yesterday. Oh, and some carrots!"

Nana heard a familiar crash in response.

"Tsuna, are you alright? Did you fall down the stairs again?"

_Tsuna can be so worrying sometimes, but I can't check on her, I have to keep stirring this stew. She should be fine, she fell down those stairs hundreds of times already. _

"Mom, I don't have much cash." Tsuna mumbled.

"Just take some from my wallet! It's on the dining table!"

Tsuna grabbed a few bills and stuffed them in her wallet.

"Oh, and bring an umbrella with you, it looks like it's going to rain!"

Tsuna took along favourite sky blue umbrella and slipped on some shoes.

"I'll be going then."

"Be careful, Tsu-chan!"

Tsuna shut the door behind her, and glanced at the sky, it was clear, not a gray cloud in sight. She sighed, she was going to look like an idiot with the umbrella.

_Half an hour later..._

"Are you alright?"

Tsuna did not dare to look up. She was a mess. She had egg yolk dripping from her hair and egg shells splattered all over her shirt. All this because a dog barked at her, causing her to lose her footing and fall down the stairs. For the second time that day.

_I really am dame-Tsuna._

She sniffed and fought back tears as she fished her pockets for a handkerchief or a piece of tissue.

"Here, you can use mine."

Tsuna looked up, and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "S-sasagawa-s-san..."

"Tsuna-chan! I didn't recognise you. Are you alright? I saw you fall down the stairs..."

Here she was, in such a sorry state, right in front of the prettiest girl in Namimori Middle School. Must she have such lousy luck? How humiliating.

Tsuna clenched her eyes shut and ran. She ran and ran and didn't stop till she was huffing and puffing like the wolf in that story that tried to blow the pigs' houses away. She felt gross, inside out. Now, not only was her shirt, hair and arms sticky from the broken eggs, but also slimy from her sweat. _Yuck. _Plus, her self-esteem had taken a blow from letting Sasagawa Kyoko see her like that. She wanted to go home, huddle in one corner and mope.

But she could not just go home like this, Mom needed the eggs. _I can't go anywhere looking like this. I guess I could wash myself a bit in the river or something._

She found a river, and did her best, washing off most of the stains on her shirt, the slime off her arms and the sticky yolk off her hair. Now she was dripping wet.

Tsuna yawned. She was tired too. Her mad dash just now had tired her out. _Maybe i'll just lie down under the sun and take a short nap._

* * *

When Tsuna woke, she was as dry as a leaf, but the sky was no longer clear blue. It was tinged with orange, and in the distance loomed gray clouds. _Crap._

Tsuna ran to the supermarket as fast as she could. She bought the eggs and carrots, and stepped out of the supermarket into a heavy, pouring rain. There was no sign of the perfect weather from the afternoon. _Lucky Mom told me to bring an umbrella. _She opened her umbrella with a snap, and walked as briskly as she could back home.

In this weather, all Tsuna saw were people huddled under umbrellas rushing to their homes, maybe. There were a few people shielding their heads with bags and dashing through the rain. Even the cars seem to be rushing home, water from the road splashed onto her as the cars zoomed past. But there was one person, getting drenched in the rain.

_What is he doing?_

Tsuna looked closer. The person was sitting on the edge of the slide in the playground. He had his elbows rested on his knees and his head was bent, hiding his face completely. He had soggy grey-ish hair, a chunky watch on the wrist, and his shirt was dishevelled, _wait, that's the Namimori uniform..._

_Is that Gokudera-kun? _Tsuna almost tripped over her own feet in surprise. _What is he doing? He's going to fall sick. _

Tsuna looked around and walked away.

In 5 minutes, she was back, holding a cup of hot cocoa, and wad of tissue. _Gokudera-kun is scary, but he'll fall sick at this rate. I'll just shove the stuff in his face and run. _

Slowly, and carefully, she approached the boy and held the umbrella over him. It took him just a few seconds to realise her presence, and unsurprisingly, he glared at her. Tsuna gulped.

"Y-you'll fall s-sick." and before the boy could retort, Tsuna pushed the hot cocoa into his left hand, the umbrella into his right, and left the wad of tissue on his lap. Then, for the third time that day, Tsuna ran.

She ran carefully this time though, she didn't want to break the eggs again. Tsuna sighed, her hair was getting drenched, she was going to look like a pine tree with legs, _oh well, this is the best dame-Tsuna can do I suppose. Only perfect people can dash around in the rain and still look stunningly gorgeous. I bet Sasagawa-san can do it. Yamamoto-kun pulls it off all the time. Even Shigure makes the girls squeal when he's such a sweaty mess after soccer practice. _

Tsuna slowed to a jog and then to a walk, boy was she tired. She was almost home, she might just make it in time for dinner. _Or maybe not..._

There were a couple of mean looking boys surrounding somebody. A bullying scene. She would have to go home by the long way. _And I'll be late for dinner..._Tsuna turned to take another route.

"Please let go of me!"

Tsuna stopped. That voice sounded familiar. She felt her stomach lurch. She turned back, and took a closer look. Panic hit her, it was Sasagawa Kyoko! What should she do? _I can't just leave her and go home. _

It was still raining, Sasagawa Kyoko's umbrella dropped to the ground. _What should I do? What should I do! _Tsuna grabbed her hair in indecision.

"Stop hiding, and do something about it, wimpy-Tsuna!" a voice called out.

Suddenly, Tsuna was flying. She landed face first into the ground. _The eggs! _Tsuna panicked and gave the eggs a quick check. Her shoulders sagged with relief when, miraculously, none were broken.

"Oh, who do we have here?" the biggest guy sneered. Tsuna scrambled back. She had landed right in front of the bullies. What kind of kick was that!

"Tsuna-chan!" ironically, even amidst the terrifying situation she was in, Tsuna couldn't help but admire how Sasagawa Kyoko managed to still look so pretty. But she should stop focusing on Sasagawa, it was getting unhealthy.

Every inch if her screamed _run! _but if she ran, her classmate would be left behind, because there was some one grasping her arm.

"How kind of you to join us," He sneered.

* * *

_Today is just not my day, _Tsuna wailed internally, because for the fourth time that day, she was running _for her life_. And she hated to run. She hated exercise in any form. Her body was protesting and she could feel her leg muscles tightening, as if they were going to-

"Cramp!" Tsuna wobbled to a stop and panted heavily. Her eyes scrunched in pain as she waited for her muscles to loosen up.

"Tsuna-chan, are you okay?" it was Sasagawa, who was also panting from running away from the bullies. "Just now, you were so brave! Thank you for saving me, Tsuna-chan!"

Tsuna felt her face heat up, she smiled sheepishly at the pretty brunette and said softly, "I'm glad you're alright, Sasagawa-san."

"You should call me Kyoko, Tsuna-chan."

"K-kyoko...chan?"

"Yepp!" Kyoko smiled at her.

Tsuna shyly smiled back.

"But what should I do? If I go back home, those guys would still be there."

Plus, It was still raining, and they were getting soaked.

"Do you want to eat dinner at my place?" Tsuna hesitantly asked.

"At Tsuna-chan's house? Can i?"

Tsuna nodded. _Shigeru would be happy too, _she thought.

"Thank you, Tsuna-chan!"

Tsuna smiled. And then she sneezed.

"We better hurry, or we'll fall sick." Tsuna said and with that, the two girls began to run, yet again, but this time not away from danger, but towards a place of safety.

* * *

She fell sick anyway. Running in the rain_. _Of course she fell sick. She just hoped Sasagawa-san, _no, Kyoko-chan,_ had not fallen sick either. She wondered if they were friends now.

She stopped that trail of thought immediately, _Kyoko-chan is a nice girl, maybe that was just a show of kindness. It might not have meant anything. _Tsuna stared at the ceiling of her room.

She recalled how delighted her twin had been when he saw Kyoko at dinner. _As though Christmas had come early, _she thought wryly. _Who would have thought that I would be the first one to invite Sasagawa Kyoko to our house, and not Shigure. _

Her luck was getting strange lately. That was the first time she met Kyoko outside of school, aside from the mornings on the way to school. _Under such strange circumstances too...huh?_

Tsuna sat up abruptly. She remembered something weird. There had been someone else at the scene. She distinctively remembered a voice calling her, mocking her. She remembered sailing through the air, and then landing in a heap in front of the trio of bullies. Someone had pushed her. Or maybe he kicked her. _Argh, everything happened so suddenly, I can't remember what exactly happened. I can't even tell if I was pushed or kicked! What if I had imagined the whole thing? No, there was definitely _something _there. What was it-_

Her door slammed open. Tsuna yelled and hid under the covers of her bed. For a few minutes, there was silence.

"Nobody asked for your help." a voice said. _Who is that? _Tsuna wondered.

_Strange, why do I smell hot chocolate? _She took a peep from under the sheets. There was nobody in her room. She emerged fully from under her blankets, and took a quick glance about her room.

Somebody had left a cup of hot chocolate on her desk. Beside it, lay her favourite sky blue umbrella.


	5. Chapter 5

"Brat, do as I say, and make Yamamoto a member of your family." Reborn commanded. He had to speed things up.

"What, why should I-" Reborn kicked him. Shigeru yelled in pain.

"Would you stop bothering me! Go play your little mafia game with someone else, kiddo! I have better things to do than mess around with y-"

Reborn fired a shot. It missed Shigeru by mere millimeters.

Shigeru's knees wobbled, and then collapsed under him. It was a real bullet. Reborn had a real gun. He could have died.

Reborn looked at his student, and said quietly, "do as I say."

Reborn knew that it was too early to pull the trigger. He had been observing the younger twin, and knew the teenager had temper issues. That temper would kick in soon and jeopardise what little progress they had made so far. But Reborn had no choice.

There was no time left.

* * *

"Oi Yamamoto, I have a problem."

"Anything I can help with?"

* * *

"Good Morning, Tsu-chan!"

Tsuna too, chirped a little good morning back to her mother. Today, was probably another start to a good day. Scratch that, it was probably going to be a good week. Nope, not even good, but the best week so far!

Why? Because Yamamoto-kun joined the Sawada household for breakfast for the third time yesterday. He had been coming since Monday, and after getting over the initial shock of seeing him at the dining table (in her teddy bear pajama bottoms too, how embarrassing!), Tsuna had developed a permanent skip in her step for the rest of the day.

Even though her life was getting weirder and weirder by the minute, seeing Yamamoto-kun every morning, eating breakfast with him and occasionally talking to him (just saying a squeaky 'good morning Yamamoto-kun!') lifted her spirits and kept her from running away from school.

Just barely.

* * *

The weirdness had begun the moment she returned to school after her bout of flu. It started out like a normal day. She passed a parent's letter to the teacher, explaining her absence from school. She shuffled to her desk. She spaced out during lessons. She drew little squiggles on her textbook. The bell rang for break.

She took out her bento but before she even unwrapped it, some hot-headed blond slammed open the classroom door. It was a senior. He had his fist clenched and he yelled at the first guy he saw.

Poor Takahashi-kun, Tsuna thought.

"Hey you! Where is Sawada! I extremely have to find the person called Sawada!"

"Shigeru-kun probably went to the field, sempai!"

"ALRIGHT, I'm going to find Sawada to the extreme!"

And the blonde senior disappeared, still yelling at the top of his lungs. There was a brief moment of silence. Then everyone in class started to talk at the same time.

"Who was that?"

"Such a scary sempai!"

"Isn't that Kyoko-chan's brother?"

Wha-

"He's pretty scary."

"Yeah I almost had a heart attack when he stormed in like that!"

"Why did he want to find Shigeru-kun though?"

"Isn't it because he's dating Kyoko?"

"Shigeru's gonna be in trouble."

"No kidding, he's the captain of the boxing club."

Tsuna's eyes got bigger and bigger. She couldn't stay here anymore. She had to check on Shigeru. What is with sempais attacking her brother recently! Plus, that blonde senior's the captain of the boxing club! He must be vicious! I hope Shigeru's alright...

That was the first strange event that took place. In the end, it seemed that Kyoko's brother had not gone to beat the crap out of her brother, but to give him a manly clap on the shoulder, and a thumbs-up. At least, that was what she saw from the second floor of the school building.

The second weird event happened while she was looking for her brother. Okay, not just then, it still happens every day during lunch break.

* * *

The second weird event happened while she was looking for her brother. Okay, not just then, it still happens every day during lunch break.

Gokudera-kun gave her a cup of hot chocolate. And the next day. And the day after that.

On the first day, he marched up to her while she was walking back to class. Then, he muttered a gruff "Yo" and pushed the cup of hot chocolate into her hand. In return, Tsuna just gaped at him, and he strode past her.

The next day, Tsuna found the cup of hot chocolate on her desk after she came back from the toilet.

The same thing happened on the third day. So, Tsuna wrote him a thank-you note on a piece of post-it and pasted it on his desk. (while he was not around, of-course, and when nobody was looking, duh).

So began their little exchange of hot chocolates and post-its.

And so, for everyday of the past week, Tsuna walked to school with a flutter in her heart, and entered class with mixed feelings of awkwardness, expectation and a tinge of dread.

She did not know whether to say hi to Gokudera-kun, because he's being so nice to her, but she never seemed to catch his eye. Plus, she did not know if she could meet his gaze (Gokudera-kun is still so scary!).

What would she do if she went to class and there was no cup of hot chocolate in sight? She didn't know. She didn't want to find out.

Everyday, she eagerly looked forward to the hot chocolate, the symbol of her first sort-of-friendship. At the same time, she also dreaded the day all this would stop. After all, how long can such nice things last? Books always say that good things never last very long.

* * *

The third and final weird thing was about to take place in her life. Poor Tsuna. The day started out like any normal day of that slightly abnormal week. She never saw it coming.

"Bye Mom!"

"Thanks for the great breakfast, Obasan!"

Tsuna waved a brief goodbye to her mom before catching up with her twin and Yamamoto-kun. They walked for a few minutes in silence before her twin abruptly slung an arm over her shoulder.

"So Tsuna, you know what's happening next week?"

Tsuna shook her head.

He cusped a hand over her ear and whispered excitedly, "The Tigers are going to hold auditions!"

Tsuna just stared at her twin.

Shigeru slapped his palm over his face. "You don't know what I'm talking about do you?"

"The Tokyo Tiger Team? The third best team in Japan? Does that ring any bells?"

"Oh," realization dawned upon her, "the ones in your posters?"

"Yepp!"

"And the t-shirts?"

"Uh-huh!"

"And your pencil case?"

"On your pencil case, buddy?" Yamamoto grinned.

"Dude, don't judge me, you have a Giants towel at your place."

Yamamoto just gave a sheepish grin.

"Anyway, Tsuna, do you know what this means for me? Twins are supposed to have telepathic abilities right?"

"Erm," Tsuna bit her lip, "you want to watch the auditions and get their autograph?"

She got a pointed look in return.

"No, I'm obviously going to go for the auditions, dummy-Tsuna. Then, after I join the team, I'll get autographs and photos with them!"

"He has our support, doesn't he, Tsuna-chan?"

Tsuna nodded happily, and sighed. Tsuna-chan...

"So, here's the plan-"

"Plan?"

"So that I can go for the auditions, duh."

"Can't you just tell Mom?"

"If it was just Mom, I wouldn't even be talking to you right now."

Tsuna knew that her face had I-don't-get-it written all over it when Shigeru sighed again.

Shigeru glanced left and right. Then, he whispered again, "because the baby keeps tabs on me. Like, he spies on me or-or something! It's so annoying! He knows everything. And I mean everything!"

"But I have to go for the audition! I doubt he would let me. He's always going on and on about that mafia game of his. He's determined to get Yamamoto involved too!"

Tsuna just blinked owlishly at him.

"Shigeru, the plan. We're already half-way to school."

"Oh, right right." Shigeru straightened, and continued with "so, Tsuna, the plan. I'll be sneaking off on Sunday night to my Yamamoto's house. You'll tell Mom that you're going for...an excursion or something, for a month."

"But I'm not going on any excursion."

"It's a lie, duh."

Okay, Tsuna was completely lost. What was going on? She just stared at her twin's melodramatic antics as he went on and on about the importance of soccer...or something. He could be like that sometimes, Shigeru. All Tsuna had to do was wait for him to get to the point.

Ah, here it comes.

Shigeru had his serious look on.

"I know it's not going to be easy," he started, "but you've got to pretend to be me for one month."

_**A/N: Two chapters for you! Hope you all like the fanfic so far! Happy New Year!**_


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